Your points are well taken, honestly. I’m not stating that US monetary policy is the best conceived policy; I’m stating bitcoin is worse, and anyone who wants to declare bitcoin a better value than the dollar is insane.

I get a kick out of people who trash the dollar (and the Fed) while defending bitcoin. The dollar has a native constituency of 300 million and the largest military the world has ever seen. Bitcoin is the Ponzi hobby of people who can’t find a way to earn dollars.

What kind of utilization are they expecting? Forget the cost to build the station. What about the cost of keeping hundreds of thousands of dollars in inventory at each of these stations? They’re going to need an exponentially larger customer base to make this workable, in my opinion.

The article doesn’t really say how they found the guy. They were able to identify the road and a public swimming pool. Either there is more to this story, or less, meaning the photos really had nothing to do with the ultimate arrest, or they had more detailed information than they are giving.

I doubt your employer will have access to your specific results of the screening. A lot of large employers do this in an effort to identify areas of focus to improve their premiums. If they discover a significant percentage of their employees are at risk for diabetes, for example, maybe they implement a dietary component to wellness programs.

It makes good business sense. If you are wary of participating, or resent a "penalty" of a higher premium as a result of not doing it, you could always purchase insurance on your own. Nobody likes sharing too much with their employer, but you have to decide if disclosures like this (even though your results are likely aggregated with others) are worth it.

Again, I’m partial to Lewis. In a big way. But if he’s supporting the kids, I’m not sure I can get riled up about it. If he was a Steeler, I would hate on him. But he’s not, and it doesn’t appear that he’s a bad person

Atlanta is more than problematic; it is horrifying to think he actually had a hand in killing someone. I don’t think we have an OJ situation here.

I am certain that I would hate Ray Lewis if he were not a Raven. I am also certain that I am priveliged to have seen him play for my team. It is a remarkable thing to have great competitors play for your beloved team.

My name (Mr. Bird) is reflective of my love of Baltimore and its sports teams. Baltimore rocks.

The problem is letting people think FICA taxes are dedicated to SS. SS and Medicare are the raison d’etre for the payroll tax, but the money just goes into the general fund.

The sooner people realize this, the sooner they will realize their REAL rate of taxation with no guarantee of returned benefit is around 30% (if they pay any income tax at all) and over 50% at higher incomes. And this is federal taxation only.

And there you have it. A non-represented employee could in theory be a free rider. They could also be an extremely productive worker who wishes to leverage their talents compared to their lazy coworker and ask for a raise. As an employer, I would prefer (if I must have a union) to treat the represented employees and the non-represented employees differently. I could demonstrate the benefits of direct negotiation between employee and manager vs. third party representation.

I think we’ll see some separation between ad-free users and those who tolerate the ads. Those who tolerate ads will continue to see a lot of free content. Those who install ad blockers will likely end up having to pay for the same content.

I like the model Microsoft has been using with installed MS Office on PC’s. I chose to go with the version that contains ads, so it’s free to me. Or, I could have paid a few hundred bucks to avoid the ads. I think there are enough people on both sides of the fence to have both options available.

They are “bad ideas” in a business sense, but many not-for-profit health systems report “community benefit” expenses and contributions, which are typically benefits to the community that do not relate to core operations.

More importantly, entire hospital departments lose money every year but the organization deems those efforts worthy of the attention. The costs are covered by high-margin departments. A hospital may decide to eliminate entire services or outsource them just to cut the expense. I think that’s what they mean by admirable but not sustainable.

Let's be clear. Silver is a douche, and has received a ridiculous amount of praise for what is essentially a Monte Carlo statistical analysis of existing polls. He is "reporting" what anyone could report with an elementary understanding of statistical probabilities.

If Silver had been sitting next to me at Game 5 of the NLDS in DC, he would have told me the Nationals had a 96% probability of winning in the top of the fourth. He would have told me the Nationals STILL had an overwhelming edge in the bottom of the ninth with two out and two strikes.

The problem with everyone who takes Silver seriously is that he is merely spouting objective statistics based on polling data that is not validated and can never be, with respect to Tuesday's vote.

If the polls showing Obama winning are right, then Silver is right. If they are wrong, he is still "right". He is not an analyst, and he will be the first to throw the polls under the bus when he is "wrong". Silver's reports are liberal masturbation.

I hope this is true. I know a lot of us here have had our doubts about Romney, and I’m glad it appears we are coalescing around the bigger idea that his victory will also end what is a catastrophic trajectory for the nation.

So think about this behavior. This is a man who has accomplished more than virtually anyone can in a lifetime. Go ahead and point to the “born on third base and thinking you got a triple” mentality, but I believe Romney is extraordinarily driven. A loss would devastate him. If he is in good spirits, this tells me he likes what his pollsters are telling him.

I hope this is true. I know a lot of us here have had our doubts about Romney, and I’m glad it appears we are coalescing around the bigger idea that his victory will also end what is a catastrophic trajectory for the nation.

So think about this behavior. This is a man who has accomplished more than virtually anyone can in a lifetime. Go ahead and point to the “born on third base and thinking you got a triple” mentality, but I believe Romney is extraordinarily driven. A loss would devastate him. If he is in good spirits, this tells me he likes what his pollsters are telling him.

Don't get me wrong. I LOVE your enthusiasm and confidence. But Florida is never a gimme. I am from FLA, and a recent conversation with my father revealed that there are a lot of people who are still on the fence. A lot of people that he thought were slam dunks against Obama.

The most important thing I learned when playing football was to keep driving my legs (on offense or defense) until the whistle blows. Don't take anything for granted.

So if I invent a new way to cheat that cant be detected, its somebody elses fault for not catching me fast enough?

I think it's rather preposterous to invent rules that are unenforceable. Let's say there was a magical performance enhancing drug that was not only legal, but absolutely undetectable by any test of any kind. Then let's say cycling banned it. What would be the purpose? Everyone would be on an honor system. This is essentially the state of cycling today. They are unable to objectively enforce their own rules.

Cycling’s governing bodies need to own up to their inadequacy. If you impose rules on participants, you must have adequate and valid means for enforcing those rules. I am on the record as being ambivalent about PED use, and could probably even get behind the idea of its acceptance in all sports (provided no laws are broken).

Cycling’s enforcement regime is just riddled with problems. I think you either have to have a bright line definition (you test positive, you’re out), or don’t test or enforce at all.

Hopefully future global warming wont get anywhere near temperatures of 250 million years ago, but if it does we have shown that it may take millions of years to recover," Professor Paul Wignall of Leeds Uni said.

I have no problem with responding to Dr. Wignall with an amused, "who cares?"

Given what we know about earth's history, we should expect some crazy stuff over the next billion years. Or maybe a different tense like "would have expected" or something, acknowledging the fact that not one of us or any recognizable ancestor of us will be subject to deadly global temperatures even under the current exaggerated models

I had a late lunch at the Front Page across the street and there were agents everywhere. The urgency had passed, so everyone was kind of laid back. But you are correct: a certain building with no identifying name or constituency sits benignly only a few blocks away.

All these “folks” references by Obama regarding terrorists, and nary a peep from the media. But I recall a muted but distinct criticism of Bush for using the same word on 9/11: “to hunt down and to find those folks who committed this act.”

I personally don’t like the usage, but yet another example of the double standard.

All these “folks” references by Obama regarding terrorists, and nary a peep from the media. But I recall a muted but distinct criticism of Bush for using the same word on 9/11: “to hunt down and to find those folks who committed this act.”

I personally don’t like the usage, but yet another example of the double standard.

I read the first page. The first problem I sensed was a complete disregard for distinctions between cost, price, and value, and the application of this so-called phenomenon of “cost disease” to areas currently subsidized, or entirely paid for, by government.

I can’t tell whether the article or the book it’s about is more ridiculous.

Never thought I’d say this, but as a dyed in the wool Ravens fan, I wasn’t even paying much attention to today’s games. I was all over the Nationals.

I watched the first half of the Ravens game and settled down for some high-stress baseball. I’m exhausted. I kept the Ravens game close on my laptop, but I’d gladly trade 11 Ravens losses for 11 Nats wins at this point.

I always enjoy seeing the Steelers lose, but today I didn’t care. Now you tell me it’s a good indicator that Obama is a November loser. I call that winning all around.

I used to know a lot of cops. Knew them personally. I knew their wives and girlfriends (we were too young for kids, although some were cooking). They were working in the Western District in Baltimore. They never interacted with “normal”, law abiding citizens. It’s not their fault. Every interaction they had was a potential death sentence. I cut them some slack then, and I do it to all cops to this day.

I had the great fortune of driving without a current registration sticker right in front of the White House. It was dark, and I got pulled over. No MPD for me, it was US Secret Service, baby.

The officer approached (I still didn’t know he was a fed) and I placed my hands at 10 and 2. He asked for my license and registration, and I said “I will need to reach for my wallet, and my registration is in the glove compartment”. He replied “do you have any weapons in the car?”, and I said, “no sir”.

He observed my retrieval of the necessary documents, took them back to his vehicle, and returned about 10 minutes later.

He politely, but forcefully, explained that I was subject to significant fines because I was not displaying proper authentication of my registration. I looked him in the eye and said I understood. He let me go and told me to put the goddamn sticker on my plate as soon as I got home.

And he thanked me for keeping my hands visible as he approached and explaining my actions throughout.

It is a shame that it has come to that, but it’s just smart to do it. The greater shame is that I can get pulled over because I don’t have enough duplicative evidence on my vehicle that I’ve complied with every nuisance regulation.